stuffed toys

[Mandobean]

Hello,
We don't have a lot of success with stuffed toys in our house. I think a week was the longest one "survived" in our house. We have one dachsie but my mother-in-law has one and so does my husband's aunt and they are at our house several times a week.
I have tried putting the stuffed toys away when the other dogs are here but after they leave it seems like Mandy is obsessed with finding the squeaker in the toy and will practically tear it to pieces.
Presently,she has one stuffed toy. It is a bunny. It doesn't squeak but it makes a boing sound when you squeeze it. She only gets it if the other dogs are not here and she is behaving. We've had this one for going on two weeks now.
My question is . Is this normal for dogs to do ,as far as ripping stuffed animals apart or are they too aggressive?
Crystal N<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm18.gif" border=0>

[Mark]

Hi Crystal,

A stuffed toy that lasts more than 5 minutes with a Dachshund?! We're impressed! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

I think you'll find that with most Dachsies that it is very difficult to find toys that survive for very long with a few exceptions. Galileo bones and Kongs to name a few last pretty well. Stuffed toys? No way! http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/lol.gif

Let us know what toys you have luck with.

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Mark, Jean, Top Spin, Wimpy, Susie, Tiny, Star, Brutus & Debbie

[dutchman]

Let's put it this way if's far from uncommon. I've seen some dachshunds who treasure and take very good care of the stuffed toys but I think most are like yours and rip them appart in short order. Frank took pretty good care of his toys till Tanner the toy killer showed up. We have a few stuffed toys that have survived. The longest lived stuffed toys so far are some stuffed hedge hogs. I think we may have three of them now.

Tom and the boys (Frank and Tanner)

[Mandy]

Dachshunds are either toy lovers or toy killers. These little guys are all gusto, so they are one extreme or the other. The problem comes when you have a family like ours, which contains both a toy lover and a toy killer. No matter what you do, the toy killer will find a way...and taht makes the toy lover a little sad.

Now, the absolute FAVORITE stuffed toys at ouyr house are the Worth Family toys by Multipet. Both of our guys and every foster who has been here absloutely love these toys. There are three Worth families - The Wallyworths, the Duckworths, and the Bunnyworths. Each family has a mommy, daddy, son, and daughter. They work great for dual families. After the stuffing and squeaker have been pulled out by the toy killer, the fur is still plump enough to satisfy the toy lover. The wallyworths are top at our house, followed by the duckworths, and then the bunnyworths. Our guys play with these toys forever. We have quite a few, as they would rather have worth toys than any other stuffed animal. We have some that have been destuffed and have been through the washer/dryer several times - the toy lover still plays with them, as doe sthe toy killer.

Our gus rate them as the best toys! The cheapest I have seen them is at JBPets. By the way, JB Pets is an affiliate of AH. So, if you use the link from the AH web page, part of the cost will be donated to help save dachshunds!

[kathleen]

<FONT face="Comic Sans MS">there is little that is funnier than watching a toy killer disembowel his latest prey! my murray loves to kill the vicious stuffie and spread his innards all around the house. then he and bailey play tug-of-war with the skin for as long as it will last. when we have play dates with some shih tzu friends, murray even goes stuffie hunting at their house.

dachshunds seem to be very close to their hunting instincts. as opposed to some setters that are bred for beauty and not purpose. all of mine have been hunters to some degree. birds and rats and mice and cats are all in great danger in my yard. but so are leaves and shadows and floating fluff!! </FONT f>

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kathleen

[Frzframe]

I have to say Mitzi is pretty good at not killing her stuffed toys. In fact she hasn't killed a single one yet. BUT, she does kill the toys that have fake fur attached. These toys usually have plastic with fur glued on it. They don't last but a few weeks. The only good thing is Mitzi will still play with the defured plastic middle. <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm1.gif" border=0>
Shonda

<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Frzframe on January 30, 2002 at 03:05 PM</font>

[Badger's Mom]

My dog is a toy killer too. He's got it down to a science, once he has a hole big enough to fit his nose in, he'll bury his nose in its insides and systematically removes ALL the stuffing.

Today I saw a toy at Petsmart. I forget its name,but basically it was a largeish size duck that looks like a stuffed animal, but doesn't have any stuffing. That way the toy killer won't have any stuffing to yank out. The squeaker is in one of the wings so if your dog yanks the squeaker out, the main body still remains intact. It looked cool, I'm thinking of buying it.

[wiporwil]

Stuffed toys what are they. Willie will have a toy for a long time then destroys them.. First he pulls the fur off them then tears out the stuffing. I have a large garbage bag of them that are no longer playable..The only one that is in good condition is Bennie Bear that he sleeps with.Every so often we get the bag of killed stuffed toys out and let him rummage through them for a bit. When he starts to pull on them again they go back to the cupboard. Why we save them i don't have a clue. Maybe because at one time or another they were all his favorite ones.Or i am just a pack rat.
<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm27.gif" border=0>
Denise

[LisaH]

Annie is a stuffed-toy lover--that is, she doesn't tear them apart. She likes to DOMINATE them. She's extremely timid with other animals, so when she finds something as big as she is that doesn't move or talk back when she growls at it...well, THAT's cool.

We got her a huge blue stuffed octopus for Christmas, that squeaks and grunts. She loves the grunting--seems to think he's begging for mercy...

LisaH and Annie

[Uschi]

I know if our puppers had their way, any stuffed creature left within their reach would be a disemboweled fabric shell within a day! However, we keep the stuffed toys in a toybox on the counter and the dogs only get to play with them when we're part of the action. (That keeps the toys an extra-special treat, too) They chew on Kongs and a very occasional rawhide bone when they feel the need to try to destroy something.

My first Dachsie never destroyed stuffed animals, only vinyl toys, leaving nothing BUT the squeaker (which I hear is much the reverse of most Dachsies...) Though, she used to eat SOAP, too! :p